Tuesday, February 14, 2012

Bamyan styled Islamists effectively erased all evidence of its Buddhist past of pre-Islamic Maldives.Trouble in paradise: Maldives and Islamic extremismes.

Nobody will be able to see this priceless Buddhist Sculpture anymore

MALE — At the Maldives’ National Museum, smashed Buddhist statues are testament to the rise of Islamic extremism and Taliban-style intolerance in a country famous as a laid-back holiday destination.

On Tuesday, as protesters backed by mutinous police toppled president Mohamed Nasheed, a handful of men stormed the Chinese-built museum and destroyed its display of priceless artefacts from the nation’s pre-Islamic era.

“They have effectively erased all evidence of our Buddhist past,” a senior museum official told AFP at the now shuttered building in the capital Male, asking not to be named out of fear for his own safety.

“We lost all our 12th century statues. They were made of coral stone and limestone. They are very brittle and there is no way we can restore them,” he explained.

“I wept when I heard that the entire display had gone. We are good Muslims and we treated these statues only as part of our heritage. It is not against Islam to display these exhibits,” he said.

Five people have since been arrested after they returned the following day to smash the CCTV cameras, he said.

The authorities have banned photography of the damage, conscious that vandalism of this kind which echoes the 2001 destruction of the Bamiyan Buddha statues in Afghanistan by the Taliban is damaging for the nation’s image.

The gates of the two-storeyed grey building, which opened in 2010, are padlocked and an unarmed guard keeps watch.

The Maldives, a collection of more than 1,100 coral-fringed islands surrounded by turquoise seas, is known as a “paradise” holiday destination that draws hundreds of thousands of travellers and honeymooners each year.

Visitors’ contact with the local population is deliberately kept at bay, however, with most foreigners simply transferring from the main international airport directly to their five-star resorts on outlying islands.

Few have any idea they are visiting a country of 330,000 Muslims with no religious freedom, where women can be flogged for extramarital sex and consuming alcohol is illegal for locals.

Islam is the official religion of the Maldives and open practice of any other religion is forbidden and liable to prosecution.

The religious origins of the Maldivian people are not clearly established, but it is believed that a Buddhist king converted to Islam in the 12th century.

Thereafter, the country practised a mostly liberal form of the religion, but more fundamentalist interpretations have spread with the arrival of money and ultra-conservative Salafist preachers from the Middle East.

In 2007, following a bombing that wounded a dozen foreign tourists, the former president Maumoon Abdul Gayoom banned head-to-toe coverings for women as a sign of his intent to battle conservative Islamic thinking.

At the museum, another official said that fundamentalists had threatened to attack the museum on previous occasions unless it withdrew the Buddhist display.

The country’s ultra-conservative Islamic group, the Adhaalath Party, condemned the attack, but said they remained opposed to Nasheed’s decision to accept three monuments from India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka.

Islam is the only official religion of the Maldives and open practice of any other religion is strictly forbidden like other Islamic countries in the cresent world. The natural beauty of Maldives could not able to bring any change of the barbaric Islamic Mind.(AFP/File, Ishara S.Kodikara).

“Our constitution does not allow idols and that is why we objected to the monuments,” General Secretary Mohamed Muizzu said, referring to the gifts to mark a South Asian summit held in November in the Maldives.

The monuments, which included one of pillar featuring Buddhist motifs, and which had been on display in the southernmost island of Addu, have all since been vandalised.

The Adhaalath party supports new president Mohamed Waheed, who Nasheed accuses of taking part in a coup, and is due to join the new government.

Waheed called the museum attack “totally unacceptable” and denied there was religious violence in his country.

Former foreign minister Ahmed Naseem disagreed.

He said extremists were thriving in the Maldives and that they were partly responsible for the toppling of Nasheed and the installation of Waheed. “What we had was a military coup backed by religious extremists,” he said.

“There is a strong influence of Islamic fundamentalists in the country and they will get stronger,” Naseem told AFP. “These groups are funded from abroad. “This threat is not only to us, but the rest of the world as well.”

The moderate Nasheed, who was educated in Sri Lanka and Britain, was consistently accused of being under the control of Jews and Christians by religious opposition parties now linked to the government

There were also demonstrations over proposals from the transport ministry to allow direct flights from Israel.

“We strongly condemn the anti-Semitic words and the other commentary recently,” US assistant secretary of state for South Asian affairs Robert Blake said during a visit to Male on Saturday.

“Under President Nasheed, the Maldives tried to improve relations with Israel and showed what a progressive country they were and we really commend them for that.”

It should be noted that during the British rule, Indian leaders like Maulana Abul Kalam Azad and Mahatma Gandhi campaigned for the Islamic caliphate led by Turkey – Gandhi doing so perhaps to gain Muslim support against British colonial rule in India.

Shariah for Hind plans to campaign for reestablishing Islamic rule in India with an ideological agenda which outlines a much purer form of Islamic rule for the country than that which existed during various periods of rule by Muslim kings in India both before and during the British era.

According to the ideological agenda stated on the group's website, Islamic Shariah will be enforced in India; temples and statues of Hindu gods and Indian leaders such as Mahatma Gandhi will be demolished; and Bollywood, the world's largest movie industry, will be abolished in order to make way for a monotheistic Islamic rule in the country.

Shariah for Hind – Leaders and Website Details

It appears that preparations for establishing Shariah for Hind began sometime in 2011; its website was launched in January 2012.

The domain for the website was created on January 3, 2012, according to its registration details.[1] The registrant for this website is "Abu Rumaysah c/o Dynadot Privacy, PO Box 701, San Mateo, CA 94401, United States."[2]

The two leaders of this organization are identified as Sheikh Anjem Choudary and Sheikh Omar Muhammad Bakri. On the contact page of the website, these two names are published prominently: Sheikh Anjem Choudary, Judge of the UK Sharia Court, and Sheikh Omar Muhammad Bakri, who is identified as "Expert on Islamic Groups Worldwide." Bakri's phone number is given as 00961 70957759 – 961 being the country code for Lebanon. Choudary's phone number is given as 0044 7956 600 569.

The website of Sharia for Hind gives the name of its chairman as Abu Baraa and his phone contact as +44 7856827605. It also gives another phone contact, +44 7956041034, for Abu Rumaysah – Spokesman, a former Hindu, of Convert 2 Islam.

Shariah for Hind – The Ideology

"There is a Consensus among All Muslim Scholars That It is Not Permitted for Non-Muslims to Have Authority over Muslims; India Needs to Return Back to Her Glorious Islamic Past; India Needs a Muslim Revolution"

In a statement, titled "The Need for Muslim Rule in India," Shariah for Hind notes that Muslims cannot live under non-Muslim rule, stating:[3]

"There is a consensus among all Muslim scholars that it is not permitted for non-Muslims to have authority over Muslims. Allah says in the Quran, 'I have created you (Muslims) a leading Ummah (nation) in order to witness the affairs of mankind.' [EMQ 2:143]

"Islam is the only religion to have maintained its relationship with God, with a miraculous book called the Quran and meticulous sciences that ensure texts recorded during the life of the final Messenger Muhammad can be verified, understood and authenticated. This cannot be said for any of the other world religions, which have literally been lost in translation.

"Fundamentally however, Islam is not a secular religion and, unlike the 'biggest democracy in the world' [i.e. India], always refers its governance back to the supreme commander, Allah (God).

"The Islamic constitution remains intact 1400 years after its inception, and emphatically puts the Indian constitution to shame. Political parties such as the BJP [Bharatiya Janata Party] and Indian [National] Congress have let India down because just like their British predecessors they were never suited to be rulers and so ruined their country with backward and evil policies."

"India needs to return back to her glorious Islamic past. India needs a Muslim revolution."

"Indian Political Parties Have Preyed on the Muslim Community, As the Wolf Preys a Lamb; They Have Divided Us with Nationalism and Poisoned Us with Democracy"

In a statement, Shariah for Hind identified its political objective as follows:[4]

"As a nation we used to move mountains.

"The Muslim Ummah (nation) is a community unparalleled in history. At its height in power it ruled over three continents. It brought tyrants to justice and liberated the oppressed. History still records their magnificent conquests, which against all odds defeated the mightiest of superpowers.

"But somewhere along the line that bright light waned and in 2012 we (Muslims) find ourselves bizarrely under the thumbs of the very people we were meant to liberate! India is now ruled by the most incompetent, unqualified and wicked individuals who have no clue about their purpose in life, let alone how to rule a nation. The Indian constitution, just like its Pakistani and Bangladeshi counterparts, [is] an appalling attempt at law and order, a stab in the dark, a gross display of trial and error.

"Indian political parties have preyed on the Muslim community, as the wolf preys a lamb; they have divided us with nationalism and poisoned us with democracy but most significantly have made us forget what the final Messenger Muhammad (peace be upon him) was sent down for i.e. the total domination of the world by Islam.

"And so we lay defenseless, strewn and confused.

"The Shariah4Hind project has thus been launched to kick start the return of Islam in the Indian subcontinent. Raw, undiluted and without compromise; it is the wild card which will inshaa'allah (God willing) make the Indian government forget about Kashmir. It is a call to unite over half a billion Muslims to retake what is rightfully theirs and galvanize a superpower unmatched in the world.

"3rd March 2012, New Delhi, India. A new spring waits."

The Muslims versus the Non-Muslims

"The Whole of India is in Fact [a] Muslim Land, the Authority Belongs to… [Muslims] and That They Should Take It From the Current Ruling Party to Implement the Shari'ah... Instead [of] Begging for Rights from the Hindus, the Muslims in India Must Govern By the Law of the Creator Allah"
A January 2, 2012 press statement issued by Shariah for Hind urges Muslims to join. Following are excerpts from the statement:

"The elections [for states in January-February 2012] in India are underway and the main parties have not hidden their eagerness to garner the Muslim vote. From the Samajwadi Party (SP) promising job reservations to Deobandis [scholars of Darul Uloom Deoband seminary], the Congress party talking to Barelvis [clerics of Barelvi schools of thought based in the town of Bareilly], Rahul Ghandi [of Congress party] meeting the head of Nadwa[tul Ulema seminary in the town of Lucknow] to discuss minority welfare and the ruling [Bahujan Samaj Party] BSP's Muslim face being in touch with several Muslim clerics, the race is on to bolster their respective vote bank and to win the elections. [Note: All seminaries cited here are in Muslim-heavy Uttar Pradesh state.]

"What is on offer for Muslims in the battle for their votes is supposedly community empowerment, quality education, protection and sensitivity in one form or other. Even the Peace Party and Ulema Council [political parties led by Muslims] have emerged to claim their stake.

"Sadly, the true rights of Muslims … [are] nowhere to be seen and no Islamic Scholar has had the courage to demand it. This is that the whole of India is in fact [a] Muslim land, the authority belongs to them and that they should take it from the current ruling party to implement the Shariah. Instead [of] begging for rights from the Hindus, the Muslims in India must govern by the law of the creator Allah (SWT). In fact it is an act of shirk (polytheism) to [be] rule[d] by other than what Allah has revealed or to ask another to do so (i.e. by voting for them).

"There is no Islamic justification for the Deobandis or Barelvis to participate in the kufr (non-Islamic) electoral system to elect someone who will violate the sanctity of Allah (SWT) by ruling according to man-made law. This is an act of apostasy from any Muslim which must be condemned."

"We Therefore Call Upon All Muslims to Rise on the 3rd of March 2012 (the 88th Anniversary of the Destruction of the Last Islamic State) in New Dehli in a Public Demonstration and Demand… to Establish the Khilafah [Islamic Rule]"

"We therefore call upon all Muslims to rise on the 3rd of March 2012 (the 88th anniversary of the destruction of the last Islamic State) in New Dehli [Urdu for Delhi] in a public demonstration and demand what is rightfully theirs i.e. the authority, to establish the Khilafah and rule by the laws of God alone. To raise awareness about this obligation and to call for it and to work to establish it is an obligation upon Muslims wherever they are and to accept anything less is an act of war against Allah and his Messenger Muhammad (saw).

"Once established, the Islamic State will guarantee the rights of all citizens, Muslim and non-Muslim. It will be the job of the Khalifah [Islamic caliph] to ensure that food, clothing and shelter are afforded to all citizens and that they have a good Islamic education. The Khalifah will also be responsible to remove all public idols and ban alcohol and free-mixing between the genders in the public arena. Moreover institutions such as Bollywood and the caste system will be eradicated.

"The non-Muslims, whether Hindu or Sikh will have certain rights and responsibilities as set out by the divine law, in summary the privileges that they will have are:

"1. In return for paying the Jizya [Islamic poll tax on non-Muslims], their life and property will have sanctity. The Imam (khalifah) will have a duty to protect the non-Muslim citizens from the Muslims and the non-Muslims because they are living under his authority. Moreover they will benefit from the same welfare as all other citizens except what Shari'ah specifies for them and as long as they commit to abide by the law of Islam in the public arena. They will live among the Muslims and take Daw'ah i.e. be propagated to by the Muslims to embrace Islam.

"2. The non-Muslims will be allowed to live in the Muslim land (India and other territories which will be annexed to it in due course) i.e. they can go everywhere except where Allah (SWT) or the Khalifah prohibits, such as the haram [the Holy Mosque] in Mecca or to live in the Arab peninsula, although they can go to trade there.

"3. Muslims will be obliged to protect the non-Muslims because they are part of the Islamic State.

"4. Muslims will never attack their own temples and not take their pigs or alcohol unless they demonstrate them publicly.

"5. The non-Muslims also have the right to access the welfare system. The Jizya is only taken from able-bodied mature men, not women or children or priest or majnoon (mentally ill) or those incapable or disabled."

"The Hindus or Sikhs or Other Non-Muslims… Must Not Build Any New Temples Nor Start to Sell Them and Buy New Ones, as Islam Forbids Us to Cooperate in the Bad Deeds; They Will Not Do Any Public Gathering of Their False Religion – Like Celebrating Christmas or Halloween or Diwali"

"In return, the Hindus or Sikhs or other non-Muslims will have certain duties, in summary:

"1. They must pay the Jizya depending on what the Khalifah adopts as the amount, for example a minimum of 1 Dinar a year or a maximum of 4 Dinar if rich.

"2. They must receive Muslims as guests if they are travelling. This applies to Muslims and non-Muslims if Muslims pass by.

"3. They must not build any new Temples nor start to sell them and buy new ones, as Islam forbids us to cooperate on the bad deeds.

"4. They must not show their symbols publicly or what is in their religion, like the pigs or alcohol or crosses or idols.

"5. They will not do any public gathering of their false religion – like celebrating Christmas or Halloween or Diwali or Guy Faulks night etc…

"6. Moreover they must be distinguished by their clothes so that we know who they are.

"7. They cannot raise their houses above ours.

"8. They must not harm Muslims in any way, not to insult Allah and his messenger or insult the book of Allah

"9. They will have the same liability in relation to the society i.e. the public law like in relation to adultery and stealing etc…"

The Cultural and Religious Agenda

"The Reconquest of India by Muslims Would See the Complete Demolition of Bollywood; Polytheism, Interfaith and Promiscuity and All of the Other Various Ills of the Bollywood Industry would Be Replaced with Islamic Monotheism"

A copy of Filmfare magazine that will be published under the Islamic Rule in India

The Shariah for Hind declares that the 2012 will mark the beginning of the end of Bollywood. Its statement on this subject declares:[5]

"The Indian cinema industry, commonly referred to as Bollywood, has a huge impact around the world. Bollywood produces some 1,000 films every year and sells over three billion cinema tickets in the same period. It is one of the most recognized symbols of India commanding a hypnotic influence over its followers.

"The impact of Bollywood in India and around the world should be a cause for great concern. The industry is luridly marred with corruption that has become progressively worse over the years. Notable examples include:

"The reconquest of India by Muslims would see the complete demolition of Bollywood and the Indian cinema industry. Its presence would be deemed as wholly unacceptable and in total opposition to the ethos of Islam. Ultimately, significant steps would be taken in order to see its complete destruction.

"With all remnants of the Bollywood industry thrown into the dustbins of history, possible uses of confiscated resources under Islamic rule include 'Da'wah' (the propagation of Islam) and Islamic education.

"In conclusion, polytheism, interfaith and promiscuity and all of the other various ills of the Bollywood industry would be replaced with Islamic monotheism (Tawheed) and righteousness, providing a healthy environment for Muslims and non-Muslims to live under."

"Associating Partners or Equals to Allah (God) is Seen as the Biggest Crime in Islam; The Establishment of the Shariah in India will Ultimately See an End to All Public Idols and Statues; We Envisage the Construction of Masjids (Mosques), Symbolizing the Transformation from Polytheism to Monotheism"

The head of Hindu god Lord Shiva is cut off in an image on the Shariah for Hind website

Shariah for Hind declares that statues of Hindu gods and of Indian leaders such Mahatma Gandhi will be demolished, as outlined in this statement:[6]

"India is one of the few countries in the world where explicit idolatry is openly celebrated. Public displays of paganism are common with idols present in nearly every town and city. Famous public idols include the Murudeshwara or Shiva statue in Karnataka, which stands at over 35 metres tall. Census reports show that over 800 million Hindus currently reside in India, with idols playing a big role in ritual practises.

"Statues of public figures are also a common feature of the Indian landscape. The Indian state of Gujarat announced in 2011 a project to build the world's tallest statue paying 'tribute' to one of the foremost protagonists of Indian independence, Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, a close companion of the tyrant Mohandas Gandhi.

"Associating partners or equals to Allah (God) is seen as the biggest crime in Islam. Allah says in the Quran, '…Indeed, associating partners with Allah is a great injustice.' [EMQ 31:13]

"Islam also prohibits the construction of statues of living beings, men or women, righteous or wicked. Allah (God) relates to mankind (in the Quran) about the downfall of the people of 'Ad, who erected large statues in commemoration of pious men. They were destroyed by a terrible storm.

"The establishment of the Shariah in India will ultimately see an end to all public idols and statues. Although non-Muslims (Hindus, Buddhists etc.) will not be prohibited from practising their religion privately, construction of idols and statues (in the public arena) will. Large scale projects outlining the destruction of public idols and statues will most likely be enforced, returning India back to her glorious Islamic past.

"As a possible replacement to India's (public) idols and statues, we envisage the construction of Masjids (mosques), symbolizing the transformation from polytheism to monotheism, from darkness to light."

* Tufail Ahmad is Director of the MEMRI South Asia Studies Project (www.memri.org/sasp)

The repeal of the ISA is part of the reforms announced by Najib during his Malaysia Day address in September. — File pic

PETALING
JAYA, Feb 13 — Replacement security laws for the Internal Security Act
(ISA) will demand a higher burden of proof before arrests can be made,
Datuk Seri Najib Razak indicated today.
The prime minister told hundreds of senior police officers here that
it will be “more demanding to enforce” the new laws once “the
much-maligned ISA is consigned to the history books.” The ISA allows for
detention without trial.
“We cannot be in the state of mind of just arresting anyone but must
ask if the evidence can stand in the court of law,” he said at the
International Conference on Principled Policing here.
Najib acknowledged criticisms that the ISA is “archaic and draconian”
and called on the force to transform itself to “a higher level of
professionalism” especially in the collection of evidence, in which
there “cannot be compromise.”
The Barisan Nasional (BN) chief had announced the repeal of the ISA
in a raft of reforms during his Malaysia Day address last September but
later said it would only be done in March after two new replacement laws
are drafted.
But police have continued to use the ISA, most notably in a sweep of 13 suspected Islamic militants in Sabah last November.

Hishammuddin maintains the ISA replacements will still allow for arbitrary arrests.

Just
days after Najib’s announcement, resistance began to surface, with
political hardliners like Perkasa’s Datuk Ibrahim Ali calling on the
prime minister to preserve the spirit of the ISA in the two new laws.
Opposition lawmakers and civil society groups such as the Bar Council
have remained sceptical of the reform, expressing fears that the
enactment of two new laws meant the ISA was merely being repackaged.
De facto law minister Datuk Seri Nazri Aziz had said days after
Najib’s announcement that the new laws, focusing on terrorism and race
and religious issues respectively, would not be as repressive as the
controversial law being repealed. The new laws are to be tabled at next
month’s parliamentary sitting.
The minister in the prime minister’s department then said “no one can
be arrested on the basis of differences in political ideologies and
extended detention can only be approve through the courts.”
But Home Minister Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein insisted in
November the ISA substitutes will continue to provide for preventive
detention as practised in the United States, United Kingdom and
Australia to fight against terrorism.
Najib had kicked off his reform package in October after tabling the
repeal of the Restricted Residence Act and the Banishment Act.
These reforms appear to be key concessions by Najib to win back middle Malaysia before a general election expected this year.
His administration had come under heavy fire for its clampdown on the July 9, 2011 Bersih rally for free and fair elections.
Police had fired tear gas and water cannons to disperse tens of
thousands of demonstrators in chaotic scenes, which resulted in nearly
1,700 arrested, scores injured and the death of an ex-soldier.

The minister also denied receiving any court order to stop the deportation of the 23-year-old.

UPDATED

SUNWAY:
Home Minister Hishammuddin Hussein today stuck by Putrajaya’s
controversial decision to deport Saudi journalist Hamza Kashgari amid
protests and concerns that he may be executed.
The minister also denied receiving any court order to stop the deportation of the 23-year-old.
Hishammuddin said the decision was made to protect Malaysia’s
reputation, adding that he does not want the country to be a safe haven
“for terrorists and those who are wanted by their countries of origin,
and also be seen as a transit country”.
Saudi Arabia’s English daily Arab News cited today informed sources
as saying Hamza, who fled to Kuala Lumpur on Thursday, will face charges
of blasphemy for allegedly mocking the Muslim Prophet Muhammad in his
twitter postings,
Blasphemy is a crime punishable by death under Saudi Arabia’s strict
interpretation of Islamic syariah law. It is not a capital crime in
Malaysia.
He was deported from Malaysia yesterday, just hours before his
Malaysian lawyers managed to obtain a court order to stop him from being
send back to Saudi Arabia.
However, Hishammuddin dismissed concerns that Hamza may be executed as ridiculous, and defended the Saudi authorities.
“Allegations that he would be executed, abused, do not make sense.
The country being accused is a dignified country. These are serious
allegations against Saudi Arabia,” he told a press conference here.
Malaysia deported Kashgari on Sunday despite fears voiced by human
rights groups that he could face execution in his home country over his
Twitter comments that were deemed insulting to the Muslim prophet.
He caused an uproar in the oil-rich kingdom with comments posted on
the Prophet’s birthday a week ago, prompting some Islamic clerics to
call for him to face the death penalty.No injunction

Kashgari
fled the country, but was arrested by the police here on Thursday as he
transitted through Kuala Lumpur International Airport. He was on his
way to New Zealand.
Facing pressure over its actions, the Malaysian police had said that
any charges brought against Kashgari by Saudi Arabia are internal.
Malaysia shares close relations with many Middle Eastern nations
through their shared religion but is seen as a leading global voice for
moderate Islam although observers say this latest controversy, on top of
rising domestic Islamisation, is slowly erasing that image.
Kashgari’s lawyer in Malaysia, Mohammad Noor, told Reuters yesterday
that a court order had been obtained to prevent the deportation but he
was not allowed to see his client.
But Hishammuddin claimed the court issued no such injunction and said they were only rumours spread on the internet.
“Maybe in the Internet there was a court order (but) there was no
injunction. No court order was given to prevent us from returning him to
Saudi.
“If there was a court order, we would abide by it, but there wasn’t, so don’t make up stories,” he said.
The home minister added that Kashgari should be aware of the
repercussions of insulting Islam and he would’ve been charged locally
even if he was not deported.

Malaysia has little regard for human rights, says DAP, and reports in Saudi Arabia say that Kashgari has been detained on arrival in Riyadh.

GEORGE TOWN: The deportation of Hamza Kashgari, a 23-year-old Saudi Arabian jounalist, clearly showed that the government has scant regard for human rights, rule of law and justice.

DAP international bureau secretary Liew Chin Tong said it was often cynically observed that foreign policy was merely an extension of domestic politics.

“In the case of Malaysia, it is unfortunately true.

“It was a black day for Malaysia’s international image,” the Bukit Bendera MP said in his e-statement here today.

Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak’s government detained and deported the young Saudi at Kuala Lumpur International Airport following an Interpol request.

Kashgari was en route to New Zealand to seek asylum.

The journalist had fled his country after his twitter comments about Prophet Muhammad triggered calls for his execution.

The Arabian columnist was detained by Malaysian authorities despite fears voiced by human rights groups that he could face execution in his home country.

He was deported despite his lawyers obtaining a Malaysian court order to prevent it.

Liew noted that Malaysia was now also the butt of international jokes as a result of the BBC’s global apology over the FBC Media scandal.

The Malaysian government paid public relation company FBC Media to make a series of eight documentaries for the BBC about Malaysia, while failing to declare it was paid 17 million pound by the Malaysian government for “global strategic communications”.

Investigations into the scandal uncovered 15 breaches of editorial guidelines of which eight were related to FBC’s programmes on Malaysia.

But, Liew said the millions that the Najib administration spent on public relations companies were meaningless if the government cannot uphold basic human rights principles in the case of Kashgari and uphold integrity in the BBC-FBC case.

“Malaysia is not a backwater banana republic.

“We used to pride ourselves as an important and supposedly principled player in the international arena.

“The deportation was a black day for Malaysia in the eyes of the world,” Liew added.

Arrested in Riyadh

Meanwhile Saudi newspaper Arab News says Kashgari has been detained on arrival in Riyadh after being deported from Malaysia.

Kashgari caused an outcry among devout Saudis earlier this month, when he used his Twitter account to post thoughts about the Prophet Muhammad they deemed insulting to Islam.

The comments by the 23-year-old columnist for Jeddah-based newspaper al-Bilad triggered tens of thousands of Twitter responses, many from enraged Saudis calling for his death.

Kashgari quickly apologized and deleted his Twitter account, but fled the country last Tuesday as the outrage grew.

A day later, a committee of senior Saudi clerics appointed by the king declared Kashgari to be an apostate – a crime punishable by death – and called for him to be put on trial.

Christoph Wilcke, a senior researcher with New York-based rights group Human Rights Watch, told Voice of America that Kashgari is “very unlikely” to get a fair trial in which the offending remarks can be explained.

Wilcke said the senior Saudi clerics who called for Kashgari to face trial also have predetermined its outcome by declaring him an apostate. He said one cleric even called for the blogger to be executed.

But, Wilcke said there is a chance that Kashgari could appeal to Saudi King Abdullah for leniency and avoid execution. He noted the case of Hadi al Mutif, a member of the minority Ismaili sect whom the government pardoned last week after arresting him for apostasy in 1993 and later sentencing him to death.

Parents seem to think that parenting is pampering
with strings attached, strings that end on the report card, strings that
can sometimes sink into a bloody mess.

COMMENT

When
a 15-year-old schoolboy murders a 40-year-old female teacher in a
classroom, the writing on the wall conveys all too clearly that there is
something grossly wrong with the society in question.

We have seen that happen in the West. We are now seeing that happen
in India, in Chennai which fancies itself as a citadel of religion,
tradition and culture!

Last week, Uma Maheswari teaching in a north Chennai school was in
her class waiting for students to get in before she could begin her
Hindi lesson of the day when the teenager rushed in with a knife,
slashed her throat and stabbed her repeatedly on her chest.

Maheswari died on the way to the second hospital, the first one having been ill-equipped to handle such a serious injury.

The boy did not flee, and was taken in by the police.

Later, he said (or bragged) that he was inspired by the latest Hindi
film, Agneepath, to commit the crime. In the Bollywood movie, Hrithik
Roshan’s character lets the fire of revenge simmer in him for years
before he brutally kills all those who had murdered his schoolteacher
father.

The Chennai boy had been livid with his teacher because of her comments in his dairy on his poor performance in class.

The teenager was reportedly a pampered child, one who got Rs 100
every day as pocket money, and which he used this time to buy the killer
weapon. He had been carrying it on him for three days before he spotted
Maheswari alone in the classroom.

The act was not pre-meditated, not one carried out on the spur of an angry moment.

It is true that the present education system in India places a
terrible burden on the child. A five-year old has to pass a test before
it is admitted into the kindergarten class. Then begins the daily grind
to school, its back bent with the weight of books it has to carry.

Later, the boy or the girl is pressured into being a performing
puppet: he or she has to score marks as close as possible to the full
100. If it is 99, it is great, still better if it is 100. Figures like
98 or 97 are okay, but anything below this is frowned upon by the
school, which is obsessed with its reputation and record, and, of
course, by parents.

Money spinning professions

Fathers and mothers want their children to get into money spinning
professions like medicine or engineering, maybe information technology.
And for a seat in a medical or engineering college, they are prepared to
pay huge bribes (call them capitation fees) that run into tens of lakhs
of rupees.

It hardly ever matters if the child learns anything. Real education
is not something that anybody is bothered about in today’s India. What
matters are the numbers in one’s report card.

I personally believe that parents are to be blamed – at least to a
very large degree, to the kind of growing violence in the community.

To begin with, in the country where consumerism is king, parents
spoil their children by bribing them with goodies in exchange for those
magical figures on their test papers.

In the early years of a child’s life, a father or mother wracked by
guilt for spending too much of time at work shower sons and daughters
with expensive toys.

Later, gifts could be expensive holidays, cars, cameras, mobile
phones and what have you, and these merely disturb the sense of balance
in a teenager. He/she grows up in a kind of valueless vacuum, believing
that money can buy just about everything, even lives.

Drunken driving of some of India’s celebrity sons is a case in point. So what if men are killed on the streets.

A rich friend of mine gifted an awfully expensive car to his son when
he turned 18. The boy could have well done with a modest vehicle. He
drives to college in that every day, probably fuelling discontent and
jealousy among his poorer peers.

A relative of mine sends her college-going daughter only by plane,
because the girl does not want to travel by train. And mind you, the
relative can ill-afford such lavishness.

Pampering with strings attached

In Chennai, parents routinely bring their below-18 children for
movies with gory adult content. Agneepath was not meant for the
15-year-old schoolboy.

Theatre managements faced with dwindling revenues look the other way when children troop into such adult screenings.

Sadly, parents seem to think that parenting is pampering with strings
attached, strings that end on the report card, strings that can
sometimes sink into a bloody mess.

That 15-year-old boy will serve three years in a correction home,
where the chances are that he would not be corrected. For, reformatory
centres in India hardly reform the young, often turning them into real
criminals.

Nothing, as we all know, can serve a child better than a family. But
in India today, this core unit itself is in need of reformation.

Gautaman Bhaskaran is a Chennai-India based author, columnist and film critic, and can be contacted at gautamab@hotmail.com . He is an FMT columnist.

BERA:
A new hire-purchase Act in accordance with Islamic principles will be
introduced, said Domestic Trade, Cooperatives and Consumerism Minister
Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob.

He
said a study of the draft Act was being discussed with a panel
comprising Islamic economists and Muslim consumer associations, and it
was being finalised.

The draft would also look into examples of Islamic legislation used in other countries.

Ismail
Sabri said the new Act, called the Islamic Hire-Purchase Act, seeks to
settle issues and financing problems usually found in common
hire-purchase legislation, such as the Hire Purchase Act 1964 and
Pawnbrokers Act 1972.

“The new Act will give protection not only to Muslim consumers but all consumers as well.

“This will be an alternative legislation for those who wish to buy vehicles or pawn their valuables.

“With
the new Act, consumers will not have to lose their new vehicles or be
penalised with higher financing rates after they have paid, for example,
75% of their loans.

“The
mechanism of the loan payments under the new Act is still being
studied. We have formed a panel to study the Islamic and commercial
legislation concerning the proposed Act,” he said after meeting haj
pilgrims at Bera mosque here yesterday.

Ismail
Sabri said at present, consumers could still have the option of using
the Islamic banking system for their hire-purchase and pawning needs,
such as the Ar-Rahnu (for pawning) or Al-Hijrah Tuma Al Bait (hire
purchase) syariah-based systems.